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IDLE 50NG5 OF 
AN IDLL SOLDIER 

BY 

GEORGE M. MORELAND 



Copyright. 1909, by George M. Moreland 



Monterey, California 

PRESS OF THE MONTEREY NEW ERA 

1909 



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Idle 5ongs of an Idle Soldier 

CONTENTS. 

Slumber's Train - . . 7 

The Twenty-Ninth's Farewell - _ 9 

A Soldier's Grave - - - 1 | 

The Old Spinning Wheel - - j 3 

Thanksgiving Day - - - 15 

A Dream of the Farm - - - 16 

The Eighth's A-Goin' Home - - 17 

My Mississippi State - - - 19 

Loneliness - - - - 20 

My Treasure - - - - 2 1 

7 he Song I Would Sing - - 23 

A Family History - - - 24 

Not A Care ... - 27 

In the Far-Off Philippines - - 28 

Will We Be Comrades Then? - - 29 

A Dream of the Past - - - 30 

'Neath a Little Mound of Clay - 32 

Alone . . - - 33 

Un-Returned Love - - - 34 

When the Daylight Dawns Again - 35 

A Lover's Ballad - - - 36 

A Letter To My Mother - - - 37 

Tombigbee's Name - - - 39 

Only a Dream - - - - 40 

The Wind's Advice - - - 42 

A Song - - - . 43 

My Mississippi Home - - 44 

A Longing _ - - , 46 

Farewell For Aye and Aye - - 47 

When I Am Dead - - - 48 

In the Long Ago _ _ _ 49 



AUTHOR'S NOTE. 

These verses are the product of an idle soldier, as the 
title indicates, and are submitted, not as gems of thought 
which will endure till the end of Time, but simply as a 
fancy of the author to see what the world would think 
of these verses which have been jotted down all the way 
from New York to the Philippines and from the Mex- 
ican Gulf to the Great Lakes. If they possess merit, 
I am glad; if they do not, my only excuse is that I did 
the best I could; angels can do no more. If they 
should be the cause of making one person's life con- 
tain one ray more of sunshine or making one moment 
of one life less sad I shall feel that my labors have not 
been in vain. 

GEORGE M. MORELAND. 

Presidio of Monterey, California, 
July 5th, 1909. 



Idle Songs of an Idle Soldier 



SLUMBER'S TRAIN. 

Last night my thoughts went rambling back 

Adown Life's rugged lane — 
Adown a portion of the road 

Not fill'd with sin and pain. 
I saw the fields of cotton white; 

I heard the darkies' song; 
I saw the Mississippi stream 

In grandness sweep along. 

The old time oak was standing yet 

Where father kept his plows; 
And Jake was whistling "Dixie Land" 

While driving home the cows. 
The cotton fields were just the same 

As they were years ago; 
The Mississippi murmured still 

The same song, soft and low. 

The old doorway was just the same 

Where mother sat each day 
And told us tales of Bethlehem 

Or watched us idly play. 
I saw her sitting just the same 

All busy with her lace; 
I leap'd to clasp her in my arms 

For one long, sweet embrace. 



8 IDLE SONGS OF AN IDLE SOLDIER 

I leap'd to clasp her in my arms 

For one embrace again. 
'Twas all a dream; I'd only gone 

Away on Slumber's Train. 
But what a pleasure 'tis to go 

And see those forriis again — 
To see my parents-angels now — 

On Slumber's noiseless Train. 

Yes, mother sleeps beneath the grass 

Close by my father's side. 
Where Mississippi's flowers grow 

And idly ebbs the tide. 
But soon I'll take an endless ride 

On Slumber's noiseless Train ; 
When wild flow'rs bloom above my grave 

I'll see them both again. 



IDLE SONGS OF AN IDLE SOLDIER 



THE TWENTY-NINTH'S FAREWELL. 

This little song was written just before the departure 
of the 29th Infantry from the Philippine Islands to 
the United States in 1 904. While that regiment was 
serving in the Philippine Islands from 1 902 to 1 904 
it was stationed a greater portion of its time on the 
Island of Guimaras, in the Visayan group, where a 
large reservation was cleared by the soldiers and good 
barracks built by their own hands. 

We are tired of tropic breezes. 

We are tired of tropic belles. 
And we long to cross the ocean 

Where the 'Mericano dwells. 
Two long years we fought and battled 

On the bonny Guim'ras Isle, 
And we battled, nobly battled 

With the bushes all the while. 
From the jungles of the forest 

Mighty, massive structures rose; 
Speaking biblically: "The wilderness 

Blossomed even as the rose." 
We constructed roads and bridges. 

Worked in mortar and in clay — 
Never tired but kept on working 

Just as hard from day to day. 
Yes; perhaps our guns were rusty; 

Our vocation was to dig; 
All the calls the buglers "sabbied" 

Were the sweet notes of "Fatigue." 
We have left a trail behind us. 

As a famous poet lined, 
We have not been idly dreaming, 

Footprints we have left behind. 
O'er the cable comes the message 

From headquarters o'er the foam, 
Saying, "They have done their duty. 

Let the Twenty-Ninth come home." 



10 IDLE SONGS OF AN IDLE SOLDIER 

We are eager now and waiting 

For the final word to go; 
Tho' our transport's coming swiftly, 

It is coming still too slow. 
Let us as we lift our anchor 

Long in happy chorus dwell, 
"Three long cheers for bonny Guim'ras, 

Three long cheers and then farewell." 
Let our band as we are leaving 

Play the strains of Howard Payne, 
Let them echo o'er the island 

We will never see again. 
Let us as we lift our anchor 

Long in happy chorus dwell, 
"Three long cheers for bonny Guim'ras, 

Three long cheers and then farewell." 



IDLE SONGS OF AN IDLE SOLDIER 11 



A SOLDIER'S GRAVE. 

On October 31, 1902, while on detached service 
in an out-of-the-way barrio on the Island of Guimaras, 
Philippine Islands, Private John Minix, Company B, 
29th Infantry, U. S. A, was stricken with cholera 
and died within a few hours before medical aid could 
possibly reach him from Camp Jossman, twenty miles 
away. It was his death and sad burial in the solitudes 
of the native forest that suggested the following lines; 

By the gentle, flowing river. 

Where the palms and mangoes wave. 

Where the grasses softly quiver. 
Is a lonely soldier's grave. 

It was dark when he was buried, 

And the gentle rain did fall. 
As the soldiers tramped and hurried 

With that solemn, deathly pall. 

Down we laid him with a murmur. 

As we whispered each to each 
Of the sad, heart-breaking rumor 

That would to his mother reach. 

Far away across the ocean 

She was waiting patiently 
For the day of great commotion 

V/hen he'd kneel beside her knee. 

But beneath the island grasses 

There we laid him, meek and low, 

Where he slumbers with the masses 
Where the timid flow'rets grow. 

Let him sleep as he is sleeping — 

For his land his life he gave — 
But at home his mother's weeping 

Once to see his lonely grave. 



12 IDLE SONGS OF AN IDLE SOLDIER 



Pluck one flow'ret for his mother; 

Send it to her far away. 
For we know there is none other 

Who would cherish it for aye. 

Murmur, wind, and grasses quiver; 

Gentle palm trees, lightly wave; 
For beside the flowing river 

Is a soldier's lonely grave. - 



IDLE SONGS OF AN IDLE SOLDIER 13 
THE OLD SPINNING WHEEL. 

Up in the garret white with dust, 

I chanced once to steal 
And found a sight which pleased my taste — 

The old time spinning wheel. 
'Twas cast aside as useless now. 

The "cranky" wheel must go; 
In modern times of flying work 

The old wheel is too slow. 



So it was roughly cast aside — 

This dear old spinning wheel. 
Which many times had hummed a song 

To an old time Georgia reel. 
And when the boys would come to dance. 

And bring the "gals" along. 
The wheel would sit an ornament 

Among the merry throng. 

I wonder what dear grandma'd say, 

If she were living still, 
(But now she's sleeping 'neath the grass 

Close by the silent mill) 
Were she to only get a glance 

Or even faintly know 
The wheel was counted useless now 

That she used long ago. 

There's many a tale she'd tell about 

This dear old wheel, I say. 
Which, when a bride, she brought with her 

From Georgia far away. 
She'd tell of how she used to stand 

And merrily would turn 
While twisting thread, so soft and white. 

Her heart with love did burn. 



14 IDLE SONGS OF AN IDLE SOLDIER 



She'd tell, too, how grandfather sat 

While she was all astir 
And told her of the ardent love 

He bore alone for her. 
But these old hearts are silent now 

And nevermore will love 
Till they unite again in peace 

In boundless realms above. 

Down in the graveyard's silent shade 

They now forgotten lie; 
And in oblivion they will rest 

Until they mount the sky. 
So, too, the old wheel is forgot. 

Aye, hke all earthly things; 
And as I stand in the garret dark 

It solace to me brings 

That though we are forgotten here 
In realms of earthly wrong. 

That we will never be forgot 
Among the Master's throng. 



IDLE SONGS OF AN IDLE SOLDIER 15 
THANKSGIVING DAY. 

That happy day is drawing close 

When erring boys who roam 
The land from Maine to Mexico 

Will long again for home. 
No matter what a man may be, 

A "Yank" or from the South, 
The thought of turkey baking brown 

Brings water to his mouth. 



I've rambled east and rambled west. 

But it occurs to me 
That turkey's just as good in Maine 

As 'tis in Tennessee. 
When mother spreads the table out 

And we begin to dine, 
We don't care who's the President, 

The turkey tastes so fine. 

We*thank the Lord that we're alive; 

We thank him for the day 
When we can eat our fill without 

A doctor's bill to pay. 
We eat the pie that mother brings 

And doughnuts by the score; 
We simply eat the turkey up 

And wish there 'd been some more. 

We're thankful to the blessed Lord 

For good Thanksgiving Day; 
But some of us, if we but dared. 

Would humbly to Him pray 
To change this great and goodly feast. 

For 'tis exceeding clear 
That we would have Thanksgiving Day 

Come twice in every year. 



16 IDLE SONGS OF AN IDLE SOLDIER 



A DREAM OF THE FARM. 

When nighttime has come and the winds from the south 

Waft zephyrs of odorous spring, 
'Tis then that I sit in my armchair and smoke 

And ponder on many a thing. 
Methinks as I sit in my old oaken chair 

I hear still the sweet-noted bell 
Of Star Face a-comin' right leisurely home 

When sunset has darkened the dell. 



I hear in the barnyard the pigs and the geese. 

Like Babel the day of its fall; 
And father is raking the sweet scented hay 

To feed the tired ox in his stall. 
The gobbler is strutting his wings on the grass. 

His gills are all rosy and red; 
The chickens are singing their songs in the yard 

Before they retire to their bed. 

The boys have returned from the field with their plows. 

And mother has welcomed them in. 
(Ah, now they are men, but how much would they give 

For mother's kind welcome again!) 
Louisa is singing a song at the well — 

A merry and rollicksome lay ; — 
And all things go merry, methinks, on the farm 

When closes this amorous day. 



I wake to my senses; my pipe has burned out; 

The moon in the heavens rides high; 
The zephyrs still waft their sweet perfume about — 

A man full of sorrow am I. 
Methinks it is sweet when the night curtains fall — 

(Oh, surely 'twill do me no harm!) 
To dream of the days that have gone long ago. 

When I was a boy on the farm. 



IDLE SONGS OF AN IDLE SOL DIER 17 . 

THE EIGHTH'S A-GOIN' HOME. 

These verses were written just prior to the departure 
for the United States of the 8th Infantry from the 
Philippine Islands in 1908. The 8th Infantry was 
stationed on the Islands of Panay and Guimaras while 
in the Philippines. 

While this regiment was serving in the Philippines 
and also since that date, an order existed requiring 
all regiments to make certain practice marches weekly; 
also to swim prescribed distances with full field kit and 
blanket roll. 

There's a lovely snow-white vessel 

Come from far across the sea; 
Come to take us to a country 

Where we so much long to be. 
Yes ; our big War Chief has sent it 

Far across the ragin' foam 
With instructions plain, emphatic. 

For the Eighth to hurry home. 

'Cause he knows that we've been strayin' 

In this tropic land too long; 
'Cause he knows that our "cabeza" 

Nov/adays ain't very strong. 
An' our Uncle Samuel loves us 

So he sent for us to go 
Back across the ragin' waters 

Where the temp'rate breezes blow. 

Where the hikes may be a-plenty 

Yet there's roads to hike 'em on; 
Where there ain't no swimmin' orders 

An' a roll to swim upon. 
We may sometimes sit an' ponder 

Of a darlin' sweet Marie 
Sittin' in her bamboo "casa" 

Dreamin' dreams 'bout you an' me. 



18 IDLE SONGS OF AN IDLE SOLDIER 



But we'll have a sweetheart yonder — 

One that "hablas" English fine; 
An' her hair'll not be oily 

Like the one we left behind. 
When we get a dollar yonder 

In that land we're goin' to, 
It'll be a great big good-un, 

And'Il bring its value, too. 



There a dime ain't called "peseta" 

An' a "baca" aint a cow; 
Darn these "Islas Filipinas" 

We don't like 'em anyhow. 
When the Eighth's a-leavin' harbor 

On that glad an' happy day 
On two spots we'll look with pleasure — 

Guim'ras Isle and fair Panay. 

We will cheer an' scream an' holler — 

All of us who're so inclined — 
Not because we love the Islands; 

'Cause we're leavin' 'em behind. 
Then we'll soon see God's good country— 

Our own darlin' U. S. A., 
Land we love an' land that loves us. 

Where we'll surely ever stay. 

When we hear the East a-callin' 

In its silent mystic strain 
(As most surely it will call us) 

We will let it call in vain. 



Yes; the big white boat's a-comin' 
Far across the ragin' foam; 

An' the War chief sent a message 
For the Eighth to hurry home. 



IDLE SONGS OF AN IDLE SOLDIER 1 9 

MY MISSISSIPPI STATE. 

I rambled away from the home I had loved 

To seek for the riches of men; 
But soon as my ship to a harbor has come, 

I'll go to my old home again. 
I've long been away, but the girl I have loved 

Is waiting there patiently yet; 
Too true to deceive is my bonny sweetheart — 

She's waiting and ne'er will forget. 

Chorus : 

Where the mocking birds are singing, and the vesper 
bells are ringing. 
She is waiting by the gate; 
Where the sun is always brightest, and one's cares are 
always lightest — 
In my Mississippi State. 

I'm longing to see the old parents I left. 

And friends, who'll forever be true; 
They will eagerly wait for the tales I will tell 

Of sailors, and billows so blue. 
Another is there, and she's waiting, I know. 

Where one time she said she would be; 
So when I get home the first place I will go 

Is down to the June-apple tree. 

(Chorus.) 



20 IDLE SONGS OF AN IDLlE SOLDIER 



LONELINESS. 

The night is dark and the wind is blowing — 

The vines they slap at my window-pane; 
The night-birds shriek and the river's flowing 

In the lonely, drear November rain. 
My life IS sad and my heart is aching 

For tender love that I've never known ; 
What care the world if my heart be breaking? 

The world is loved and I'm all alone! 
V/hen you but know of the pain and sorrow 

That fills the world which you think is bright 
You'll understand on some sweet tomorrow 

This aching heart on this rainy night. 



IDLE SONGS OF AN IDLE SOLDIER 21 

MY TREASURE. 

Within a cozy, jewelled case. 

And safely locked away. 
Is laid the ring my darling wore 

Upon our wedding day. 
'Tis not a costly looking thing. 

Like lords and ladies wear. 
But millions could not buy this ring 

I value it so dear! 

How well can I recall the day 

\vhen she stood by my side 
And said the v/ords, so very sweet. 

That made her e'er my bride. 
'Tis forty years agone since then 

When Bess and I were wed ; 
But tv/enty years my darling's lain 

Out in the church yard — dead! 

Her face — so fair — has faded now; 

Her form has turned to clay; 
But she's the same sweet girl toime 

As on our wedding day. 
When che was in her coffin dead. 

Her hands so icy cold — 
I k-elt thfre by my darling wife 

And took that band of gold! 

I keep it safely locked away. 

And only now and then. 
When p rowing heartsick, sad and lone, 

I bok at it again. 
The grasses grow above her grave; 

The mock-birds sing around 
The spot where darling Bessie sleeps — 

That simple, lowly mound. 

There's room enough close by her side 
For one more narrow bed: 



22 IDLE SONGS OF AN IDLE SOLDIER 

I'll lay me down by Bessie's side 

At last, when I am dead. 
I'll join my darling once again. 

Where seraphs constant sing ; 
And when I pass the "pearly gates" 

I'll give her back her ring! 



IDLE SONGS OF AN IDLE SOLDIER 23 



THE SONG I WOULD SING. 

A poet sang of a little bird 

With a shattered, broken wing; 
He told the story so often heard, 
So oft the hearts of the tender stirred. 
What a sad, sad tune 'twould sing. 

The poet told of the very way. 

In the merry summertime. 
While other birds were so glad and gay, 
This bird would sit and would never play, 

Tho' the days were like a rhyme. 

Were I a poet with songs to sing 

I would tell another part; 
I'd never tell of a broken wing; 
I'd tell of a sadder and nobler thing; 

I'd sing of a broken heart. 

I'd tell the way that the heart was broke — 

I would tell, if poet can. 
How heart as strong as the sturdy oak 
Was crushed with only a woman's stroke; 

How it left a heartless man! 



24 IDLE SONGS OF AN IDLE SOLDIER 



A FAMILY HISTORY. 

I went to the old fam'Iy Bible 

Where father recorded the name 
Of all of his lads and his lasses 

The very same day that they came. 
I turned thro' the old yellow pages; 

The names that I saw — here are all — 
John, William and Annie and Bessie — 

The youngest were Flora and Paul. 

I stood and I pondered those pages; 

O, where are those children all gone! 
They once were around the old roof-tree. 

But now, like a bird, they have flown. 
There's John — he the oldest and wisest — 

Where now in the wide world is he? 
His longing was always for sailing 

Upon the dark, billowy sea. 

He left the home port for New Zealand 

Ore fine sunny morning in May; 
And long mother watched, long she waited. 

Till worry her life wore away. 

Next William we see on the record — 
Observe, please, at once that is me. 

In childhood we a'l played together. 
But now there is none here but me. 

The next one we see is our Annie — 

The first of us all to depart — 
Too true for this old v/orld of sorrow. 

To 3 noble her patient young heart. 
We laid her to rest by the willow 

Down near where the spring-brook doth fall; 
From morning till night in the meadow 

The mock-birds they whistle and call. 



IDLE SONGS OF AN IDLE SOLDIER 25 

Comes next on the list little Bessie, 

The wisest, most learned of us all; 
Alas! but she wedded a drunkard; 

Her life was made bitter as gall. 
She worried and pined for her husband; 

With fever she's striken one day; 
Her sorrow and fever's wild ravage 

Soon wore her weak life-cords away. 

We laid her to rest over yonder 

Where mock-birds forever doth sing. 
Where Bessie, our darling, is sleeping 

Down close by the brook and the spring. 

And, then, there is Flora, the darling. 

The smallest of all of the girls; 
The pet of all of the household — 

The darling with ringlets and curls. 

We loved her but she was too noble; 

When fever was raging, our dear 
Went forth as a nurse, and her tomb-stone 

Says, "Sleep here our good volunteer." 

The last Ox-e of all on the record — 

Yes, the very last one of us all — 
Is the joll'est one of the family. 

The rollicking, rackety Paul. 

And near to his name in the Bible 

Is a clipping from out of the "News," 
Which tells of our hero's sad story 

In fanciful lips like a Muse. 
It tells how a soldier has fallen 

In our tropical land far away, 
Who bore the bright banner still forward 

In thickest a^nd hottest of fray. 



26 IDLE SONGS OF AN IDLE SOLDIER 

It tells how he fell and was buried 

In islands far over the sea ; 
Of all of this family of children 

There's none of them living but me. 
Sometimes as I stand here and ponder 

While sinks the bright sun in the west, 
Almost do I wish I could follow 

The loved ones who've entered to rest. 



IDLE SONGS OF AN IDLE SOLDIER 27 
NOT A CARE. 

We have trod the rugged pathway 

Thro' the vista of the past; — 
Trod it with our hearts together 

But they're severed now at last. 

I am sitting by my fireside 

Thinking of the Long Ago, 
And outside my window casements 

Chilly winter breezes blow. 

All the little garden's covered 

With a sheet of snowy white. 
But my thoughts are drifting backward 

To another happy night. 

Wben the zephyrs from the Southland 
Fanned her young, unwrinkled brow; 

Now. I'm sitting brooding o'er it; 
Ah, 'tis but a mem'ry now! 

In the little garden corner 

Is a spot all white with snow, 
But beneath the small embankment 

Sleeps her faded form, I know. 

But her soul is watching, waiting, 

Far beyond our earthly ken 
At the far-off gates of jasper 

Where she'll surely let me in 

Parted now but not forever; 

Dearest ties are broken here; 
Over there there's not a heartache. 

Not a sorrow, not a care. 



28 IDLE SONGS OF AN IDLE SOLDIER 



IN THE FAR-OFF PHILIPPINES. 

WKen the sun was shining brightly 

O'er the Mississippi hills. 
And the waters murmured lightly 

In the rivers and the rills, 
Stood a youth his farewell giving 

To a maiden of his dreams; 
As a soldier he was going 

To the far-off Philippines. 

Chorus : 

"When the cruel war is ended, darling, 
I'll return and ask you to be mine; 

But when I am far away, my darling, 
I'll be still the same — and always thine. 

When the sweet magnolias bloom. 
And the mock-bird sings his tune, 

I'll return and still be always thine." 

But the papers told the story 

How he nobly fought and fell, 
Fighting for the "Flag of Glory;" 

And his solemn funeral knell 
Echoed o'er the hills and valleys 

Of the Island of Panay; 
While his sweetheart thought and pondered 

O'er the last words he did say: 

(Chorus.) 



IDLE SONGS OF AN IDLE SOLDIER 29 



WILL WE BE COMRADES THEN? 

To my good Army friend. Musician Peyton Roscoe, 
Company L, 29th Infantry, U. S. A., these lines are 
dedicated : 

When the years have drifted onward 

Down the beaten paths of Time, 
Will our friendship still glide smoothly 

Like a sweetly written rhyme? 
Will you not forget me, comrade. 

As you face the world of men? 
When you face the world of battle, 

Will we still be comrades then? 

When you face the stormy conflict — 

Roam 'neath other skies so blue — 
Don't forget the dear old comrade 

Who tried always to be true. 
If you ever get in trouble — 

Should you sorely need a friend — 
Just remember dear old by-gones; 

We can still be comrades then. 

Tho' perhaps we part forever, 

I cannot, cannot forget 
All the days when we were comrades; 

O, we must be comrades yet! 
Comrades, comrades — yes, forever 

Through the earthly walks of men; 
When we cross the "Pearly Portals," 

May we still be comrades then. 



30 IDLE SONGS OF AN IDLE SOLDIER 
A DREAM OF THE PAST. 

Last night I dreamed of days agone, 

Of childhood's hallowed past; 
Of days all fill'd with blissful charms 

Too pleasant far to last. 
I stood again beneath the shade 

Close by the old farm well; 
I watched the cattle languid roam 

Down in the pleasant dell. 

The fragrance of that pleasant dell 

Pervaded everywhere; 
The tinkle of old Star Face's bell 

Distinctly I could hear, — 
Could hear as in the days of old 

When in the evening gloam 
I used to wander down the lane 

To drive the cattle home. 

Across the fields I heard a strain 

Of music fill the air, — 
The same old song of Mary Vane, 

The girl I loved so dear. 
When evening came and I went forth 

To drive the cattle home 
She'd always wait beside the gate 

And sing there in the gloam. 

Ah, Time, thy cruel hand has touched 

The beauty of her brow; 
The daisies in the pleasant dell 

Sway gently o'er her now! 
Long years ago she went away 

To with the angels soar; 
Tho' long I wait beside the gate 

She sings to me no more. 



IDLE SONGS OF AN IDLE SOLDIER 31 

I always hear her in my dreams 

Still singing soft and low 
Whene'er I drive the cattle home 

In evening's tinted glow. 
Some day, when Life's great war shall cease, 

I'll soar beyond the stars. 
And Mary'll waiting be for me 

Still singing by the barg. 



32 IDLE SONGS OF AN IDLE SOLDI ER 

'NEATH A LITTLE MOUND OF CLAY 

When the April flowers were blooming 

In the Spring-time long ago. 
Mother kissed me on the doorstep. 

And her hair so like the snow. 
Fell upon my boyish shoulders. 

And her tears fell like the rain. 
As she whispered, "I'll be waiting. 

Darling, when you come again." 

Chorus : 

'Til be waiting at the homestead. 
Looking for you every day; 

Don't forget that mother loves you 
In the old home far away." 

Years fled by with fleeting footsteps; 

Then I rambled home again — 
Home again to see my mother — 

But my journey was in vain. 
There stood still the old magnolias 

Where I often used to play; 
But, alas! my mother waited 

'Neath a little mound of clay. 

(Chorus.) 

All the birds were sweetly singing. 

And the swift Pearl swept along; 
But I heeded not its music 

Nor the mock-bird's merry song. 
I stood thinking of my mother, 

By that little mound of clay. 
And her words I still remember. 

As she kissed me and did say: 

(Chorus.) 



IDLE SONGS OF AN IDLE SOLDIER 33 
ALONE. 

The night is dark and the wind is blowing; 

No stars peep out with a brilliant light; 
The night-birds shriek and the river's flowing — 

Is flowing swift thro' the dark, dark night. 
My life is sad and my heart is aching; 

No love speaks out in a gentle tone; 
I'm sad and lone and my heart is breaking — 

Is breaking sure, and I'm afl alone! 



34 IDLE SONGS OF AN IDLE SOLDIER 

UN-RETURNED LOVE. 

The world may be a cheery place 

If those we love will love us; 
The heart will be as soft and pure 

As heav'n that smiles above us. 

But if the one our heart has chose 

Does not see fit to love us, 
The day will full of darkness be. 

The stars ne'er shine above us. 

The saddest thing in all the world 

By human tongue e'er spoken, 
Is, "Life was wrecked by wrong-spent love,- 

A heart has bled and's broken." 



IDLE SONGS OF AN IDLE SOLDIER 35 
WHEN THE DAYLIGHT DAWNS AGAIN. 

O, dark is the midnight hour — 

So dark and full of gloom; 
And my heart is sad; for pleasure 

There is never, never room. 

I long for the days of pleasure 

To come and ease my pain. 
For I'll be happy surely 

When the daylight dawns again. 

O, days of truth and Constance, 

When will you ever come? 
before I'm sleeping lowly 

in the coldness of the tomb? 

vVhen the one I love shall love me, 
'Twill ease my heart of pain. 

And I'll be happy surely 

When the daylight dawns again. 

When love shall be returned 

For an ever constant love, 
'Nd we love as do the angels 

In the brilliant Courts Above — 

'Tis then that I'll be happy 

And free from grief and pain; 

When the one I love shall love me 
Then the day will dawn again. 



36 IDLE SONGS OF AN IDLE SOLDIER 
A LOVER'S BALLAD. 

The sun was fast sinking to rest in the west 
As I walked all alone by the sea; 

As I wandered my thoughts flew over the wave. 
And were ever, my darling, with thee. 

Tho' oceans divide us, seas murmur between, 
Still my heart is forever with you; 

I'm dreaming always of those wonderful eyes, 
Like the stars in the heavens of blue. 

I sit by the sea and think of my love. 
While the moon pours its radiant light 

Upon my sad form; while I list to the bird 
Sing its low, plaintive warble at night. 

But love on, young heart; 'tis well that you love, 
Tho' you love at a terrible cost; 

For a man's life is nobler and purer at last, 
Tho' even he has loved and has lost! 



IDLE SONGS OF AN IDLE SOLDIER 37 

A LETTER TO MY MOTHER. 

Lovingly dedicated to the dear old lady 'way down 
in Mississippi to whom it is addressed. 

Mother, when the twilight lengthens 

O'er the hills at eventide. 
Oft I linger sad and lonely. 

Wishing I were by your side. 

Oft I think of days now numbered 
With the dead decaying past 

When you soothed my aching forehead — 
O, that they could ever last! 

Sometimes when the night-time hovers 
O'er my narrow, cheerless bed. 

Some kind angel whispers softly 
Of the happy days now dead; 

Of the long lanes lined with cowslips 
And the gentle winds of May ; 

Of the meadows where the farmers 
Gather in the new-mown hay. 

I could hear the soft, low murmur 

Of the tinkling little ril'.s 
Winding 'mongst the ferns and willows 

From the distant, verdant hills. 

Mother, will those halcyon moments 

Ever come to me agam, 
Making this poor heart grow lighter, 

Easing me of all my pain? 

When again you clasp me, mother. 

To your gentle, loving breast. 
There my head will stay forever. 

And in peace and gladness rest. 



38 IDLE SONGS OF AN IDLE SOLDIER 

I will ever hover near you 
In sweet harmony and love, 

Till we pass beyond the portals 
Of that brilliant Court Above! 



IDLE SONGS OF AN IDLE SOLDIER 39 

TOMBIGBEE'S NAME. 

It is always interesting to know why some of our 
rivers, lakes, mountains and even states, acquire such 
romantic, unusual Indian names. The following verses 
give the true cause for the naming of the Tombigbee 
River, a beautiful and fascinating stream in our 
Southland : 

They are telling now a story 

How Tombigbee got its name. 

How a poor old coffin-maker 

Brought the queer name into fame. 

Years ago when Mississippi 

Was infested by the braves 
Of the Chickasaws, and others. 

Who for dead men made no graves. 

Came a lonely pale-faced rambler. 

Settled near the river's flow. 
And upon the rippling waters 

Watched the Indians come and go; 

Saw them heap departed Indians 

In embankments very high; 
So he made for them a coffin, 

"For your bravest when they die?." 

Thus they called him "coffin-maker," 
Or "Tom-big-bee," as they say, 

And the river near his dwelling 
Call they that unto this day. 



40 IDLE SONGS OF AN IDLE SOLDIER 
ONLY A DREAM. 

The brook meandered its way along 

While I stood upon its bank; 
The partridge whistled his autumn song. 

And the cattle came and drank. 
The leaves of autumn were falling near, 

Floating idly down the stream; 
The fields and forests were lone and sere. 

When I slept and dreamed a dream. 



I dreamed I rambled the meadows o'er 

With a heart all gay and light; 
The light of eyes that I'll see no more 

iVIade both wood and field more bright. 
The rippling laugh that my darling had 

Was so very sweet to me, 
I soon forgot I was lone and sad; 

I was fill'd with mirth and glee. 



A bird was singing his autumn song 

But his notes were lost to me, 
For I was happy the v/hole day long; 

I was loved, and love was free; 
We talked of seraphs and golden wings. 

While we watched the rippling tide; 
We could hear the harp with its silver strings 

Play the air for groom and bride. 



I stooped to steal from her tender lips 

One kiss as a gift that day! 
I woke to find that the joys man sips 

Will forever fiy away. 
I'd slept and dreamed on the brook's low bank 

And my darling whom I'd found. 
With whom the nectar of gods I'd drank 

Was asleep beneath a mound 



IDLE SONGS OF AN IDLE SOLDIER 41 

Close by the brook 'neath a chestnut tree 

Where the autumn birds flew near 
And sang their songs full of simple glee; 

Ah, the songsters did not care! 
i hey little dream of the pain and woe 

That will fill a human life; 
I wish that I were a songster so 

I'd forget this pain and strife. 



42 IDLE SONGS OF AN IDLE SOLDIER 
THE WIND'S ADVICE. 

The day was done, the sun had set 
Behind the banks of red; 

How many hopes with it has gone 
Into oblivion-dead! 

The wind sighed softly in the trees; 

It meant for me to hear; 
"Faint not, but ever struggle on, 

Tho' dark the roads appear. 

"There never was a battle fought 

Without an hour of fear; 
No pinnacle we e'er surmount 

Without a bitter tear. 

"Then, gird thy armor, face the world. 

And nevermore despair. 
For, tho' Life's road is fill'd with thorns 

The end is shining fair. 

"Remember that the treasure-trove 
Is for the man who toils; 

And he who in the conflict fights 
Shall win the victor's spoils." 



IDLE SONGS OF AN IDLE SOLDIER 43 
A SONG. 

Are you thinking of me as I'm thinking of you. 

In your home far over the sea? 
Wherever you roam in this wide world tonight. 

My love, are you thinking of me? 

I stood by the stream where so often we'd sit 
And talk of the sweet future days; 

O, Love, how my heart in pure sadness did break 
With sharp Disappointment's harsh rays! 

Are you looking tonight upon those bright stars? 

Are their lights, too, falling on you? 
I wish some angel would come from above 

And make a bright star of me, too. 

I would sit on my crest in the dome of the skies 

And look. Love, forever on thee; 
I think of thee constantly all of the days; 

O, Love, art thou thinking of me? 



44 IDLE SONGS OF AN IDLE SOLDIER 

MY MISSISSIPPI HOME. 

When the winter snow is falling, 

And my heart is fill'd with gloom. 
Think I often of the meadows 

Where the lovely jasmines bloom. 
I was but a youth, and longing 

All the weary world to roam. 
When I bade farewell to mother 

And my Mississippi home. 

Chorus : 
But I'll never see again all those splendors ; now 'tis 
vain ; 
And I'll never see my dear old mother more. 
When I left I broke her heart; there forever did we 
part. 
Near the jasmine at the old plantation door. 

I was gay that summer morning 

And all nature seem'd in tune; 
All the birds were sweetly singing 

In the treetops, bright and soon. 
When I left the old plantation 

All the weary world to roam; — 
Left my mother weeping for me 

in my Mississippi home. 

(Chorus.) 

Years have passed since that glad morning; 

Now my mother's dead and gone; 
She is gently, gently sleeping 

In the churchyard all alone. 
Oh, the message sweet she sent me 

O'er the ocean's raging foam, — 
Sent the truant boy who left her 

In her Mississippi home. 

(Chorus.) 



IDLE SONGS OF AN IDLE SOLDIER 45 

Ali the world will now be gloomy 

And this heart be full of pain. 
Since I left my darling mother 

Ne'er to see her face again. 
But when Death shall loose these fetters 

And the world no more I roam, 
I will meet my darling mother 

In that bright Eternal Home. 

(Chorus.) 



46 IDLE SONGS OF AN IDLE SOLDIER 
A LONGING. 

I sit in my chamber while night hovers round 

Alone, and my memory Piees 
Back, back to the days o: sweet childhood's domain 

My heartaches once more to appease. 
Ere long I'll retire to my couch for the night 

Alone with no sweet words of cheer; 
O, worlds would I give if the worlds were all mine 

If mother, dear mother, were here! 

How fond does my mem'ry revert to the time 

When snugly she'd tuck me well m. 
And utter a prayer as alone mothers can 

To make me all guileless from sin. 
O, mother, come back from the world where 
you've rone 

And tuck me well in for the night. 
My heartaches are many since you went away ; 

Come make it all care-free and bright. 

'Tis years sipxe you left me alone — all alone — 

O, come just tonight once again 
And tuck me in snugly and kneel by my couch 

And plead for my freedom from sin. 
Temptations are many since you went away; 

The days and the nights are so long; 
At nightfall no prayer and at morn ne'er a kiss 

Nor melody sweet of your song. 

I wish you would come, mother dear, to my heart 

And tell me again of your love. 
Just fold me secure to your arms once again 

And Hy to your home up above. 
I'll now lay me down in my couch for the night 

Alone, with no sweet words of cheer. 
O, worlds would I give if the worlds were all mine 

If mother, dear mother, were here! 



IDLE SONGS OF AN IDLE SOL DIER 47 

FAREWELL FOR AYE AND AYE. 

To my Army friend, Charles A. Grandi, Musician, 
Company L 29th Infantry, this effort is dedicated. 

In a pleasant home one day, in Ohio far away, 

Stood a youth his last farev/ell to say; 
"I must ramble. Love," said he, "o'er the land from 
sea to sea. 
Seeking wealth to build a home for us for aye. 
When I've captured wealth and fame I will surely 
come ajain 
And in old Ohio I will ever stay." 

Chorus : 
So o'er the wave he rambled, while the waters sang 
and gamboled 
In the old Ohio River near his home; 
The girl still calmly waited for her love so long 
belated. 
And she often wondered why he'd never come. 

When the Springtime came each year she would gently 
drop a tear. 
But she never saw the grave so far away; 
In a Cuban valley bright, stars would gently look at 
night 
On the mound where slept her love from day to day; 
And the wind would whisper soft, as the palm trees 
waved aloft. 
But they ne'er disturbed his^ sleep for aye and aye. 

(Chorus.) 



48 IDLE SONGS OF AN IDLE SOLDIER 
WHEN I AM DEAD. 

When the April flowers are blooming 

And the world is full of joy, — 
Not a cloud to mar its sweetness 

Nor a wind its peace annoy; 
When the sky above is shining 

With a face unblurred and clear, 
ril be sleeping cold and lifeless. 

And I wonder if you'll care. 

Will you ever in your rambles 

Take the time to walk around — 
Place some roses or some lillies 

Fair upon my lowly mound? 
Will you long, then, for the accents 

Of a voice that's cold and still? 
Will you, when you ramble near me? 

Tell me if you ever will! 

Or when Winter's chilly breezes 

Moan above my lonely bed. 
Will you ever have a heartache 

When you think that I am dead? 
Will your footsteps wander gently 

Where I sleep beneath the snow? 
Should you ever wander thither 

I am sure that I shall know. 



I'll be there, tho' you'll not see me 
In my lowly, narrow bed; 

O, I hope you'll not forget me 

When I'm slumb'ring cold and dead! 

Let one link in Mem'ry's cycle 
Still cling on till life has fled 

And you come to slumber with me 
In the City of the Dead. 



IDLE SONGS OF AN IDLE SOLDIER 49 



IN THE LONG AGO. 

Yes, my form may now be bending 

And my locks as white as snow. 
But the day has long since vanished 

When it was not even so. 
One time I was gay and sprightly. 

And was happy, just like you. 
And my life was like the morning 

Sprinkled o'er with drops of dew. 

Then I loved a little maiden 

Near the blue Tombigbee's flow. 
(Oh, how sweet to dwell upon it 

Though 'twas even long ago!) 
When the Mississippi flowers 

By the wayside wildly grew. 
Gathered we the four-leafed clovers 

And the daisies, bright and blue. 

We would listen to its murmur 

As the bright stream swept along, 
Rippling o'er the stones and pebbles. 

Singing e'er a merry song. 
Thus I loved a little maiden 

In the happy Long Ago, 
Where the flowers bloom forever 

Near the blue Tombigbee's flow. 

Years passed by, and I had rambled 

Far across the ocean wide. 
But I found no fairy regions 

Over on the other side. 
When my rambling mood was ended. 

Thought I of the river's flow. 
And the maiden who had loved me 

In the lovely long ago. 



50 IDLE SONGS OF AN IDLE SOLDIER 

When I reached the little cottage 

All around was mute and still 
Save the waters falling gently 

O'er the rustic water mill. 
Near the river's mossy margin 

Was a daisy-covered mound 
Where my sweetheart waited calmly 

While the waters sang around — 

Sang the same tune it had murmured 

When we rambled in the glow 
Of a pleasant April evening 

In the happy Long Ago. 
Still this life is not the ending, 

For the tender cords of Love 
Which have severed been at parting 

Will united be above. 



'h^ 



NOV 20 1909 



mn I 



CONGRESS 




